Hvac controller assembly

ABSTRACT

An HVAC control mounting assembly including a housing, including at least one communication module receptacle, and a communication module disposed in at least one of the at least one communication module receptacles. An HVAC controller assembly including an HVAC control unit, and a mounting assembly operably coupled to the HVAC control unit the mounting assembly including: a housing including at least one communication module receptacle disposed therein, and a communication module disposed in at least one of the at least one communication module receptacles.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to, and claims the priority benefitof, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/041,975 filed Aug.26, 2014, the contents of which are hereby incorporated in theirentirety into the present disclosure.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

The presently disclosed embodiments generally relate to heating,ventilation, and air-conditioning (“HVAC”) systems, and moreparticularly, to an HVAC controller assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

Home automation systems are continuing to gain traction in themarketplace. Increasingly, HVAC systems are being included in the homeautomation packages. To accomplish a full automated system, HVACcontrollers require a communication module compatible with theautomation system.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

In one aspect, an HVAC control mounting assembly is provided. Themounting assembly includes a housing, at least one communication modulereceptacle disposed in the housing, and at least one antenna operablycoupled to a respective communication module receptacle. In oneembodiment, the housing is configured to be operably coupled to an HVACcontrol unit. In one embodiment, the at least one antenna is located ona front side of the mounting assembly. In one embodiment, the at leastone antenna is located on a rear side of the mounting assembly. In oneembodiment, the at least one antenna is located within a cavity formedon the mounting assembly.

The mounting assembly further includes a communication module disposedwithin any of the at least one communication module receptacles. In oneembodiment, the communication module is removable.

In one aspect, an HVAC controller assembly is provided. The HVACcontroller assembly includes the mounting assembly and an HVAC controlunit operably coupled to the mounting assembly. In one embodiment, theHVAC control unit includes a thermostat. The HVAC control unit isconfigured to wirelessly communicate and exchange data with at least oneremote device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments and other features, advantages and disclosures containedherein, and the manner of attaining them, will become apparent and thepresent disclosure will be better understood by reference to thefollowing description of various exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an HVAC control mountingassembly;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of an HVAC controller assembly;and

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a structure containing theHVAC controller assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of thepresent disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used todescribe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitationof the scope of this disclosure is thereby intended.

Since numerous communication modules and protocols are available in themarket, having an HVAC controller capable of communicating with allprotocols would increase the overall size to accommodate the differentcommunication modules, and greatly increasing the cost. There istherefore a need for an HVAC controller assembly capable ofaccommodating the numerous communications protocols without increasingthe size and costs of the HVAC controller.

FIG. 1 illustrates an HVAC control mounting assembly generally indicatedat 10. The mounting assembly 10 includes a housing 12. In oneembodiment, the housing 12 is configured to be operably coupled to anHVAC control unit 20 (shown in FIG. 2). It will be appreciated that thehousing may be made from any durable material, such as plastic to nameone non-limiting example, suitable to be mounted to a wall of astructure and capable of holding the HVAC control unit 20. The mountingassembly 10 further includes at least one communication modulereceptacle 14 disposed in the housing 12. The HVAC control mountingassembly 10 further includes at least one antenna 16 operably coupled toa respective communication module receptacle 14. In one embodiment, theat least one antenna 16 is located on a front side 11 of the mountingassembly 10. In one embodiment, the at least one antenna 16 is locatedon a rear side 13 of the mounting assembly 10. In one embodiment, the atleast one antenna 16 is located within a cavity 15 formed on themounting assembly 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, antenna 16A isoperably coupled to communication module receptacle 14A and antenna 16Bis operably coupled to communication module receptacle 14B. It will beappreciated that each of the antennas 16 are spaced apart at a suitabledistance to avoid noise and other radio interference.

The mounting assembly 10 further includes a communication module 18disposed within any of the at least one communication module receptacles14. In one embodiment, the communication module 18 is removable. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, communication module 18A is disposed incommunication module receptacle 14A, and communication module 18B isdisposed in communication module receptacle 14B. It will be appreciatedthat the communication module 18 may be any wireless communicationdevice operable to transmit and receive data to/from a secondary device.The wireless communication device may operate according to protocolssuch as Z-WAVE® radio, ZIGBEE® radio, Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH®, radio frequency(RF) radio, etc., to name a few non-limiting examples.

FIG. 2 illustrates an HVAC controller assembly, generally indicated at20. The HVAC controller assembly 20 includes the mounting assembly 10and an HVAC control unit 22 operably coupled to the mounting assembly10. In one embodiment, the HVAC control unit 22 includes a thermostat.As shown in FIG. 3, the HVAC control unit 22 is configured to operate atleast one HVAC component 24 via a wired or wireless connection. The HVACcontrol unit 22 is further configured to wirelessly communicate andexchange data with at least one remote device 26, for example homeautomation controllers to name one non-limiting example, within astructure 28 via the at least one communication module 18. It will beappreciated that the HVAC control unit 22 may communicate with anyremote device 26 having a similar communication module 18 disposed inthe communication module receptacles 14. For example, if device 26A iscapable of wirelessly communicating via Z-WAVE® radio, a Z-WAVE®communication module 18 is placed in communication module receptacle 14Aof the HVAC control unit 22, and if device 26B is capable of wirelesslycommunicating via Wi-Fi, a Wi-Fi communication module 18 is placed incommunication module receptacle 14B of the HVAC control unit 22. The useof communication module 18 allows the HVAC control unit 22 to exchangedata with device 26A and/or device 26B to enable control of the HVACcontrol unit 22 and/or the at least one HVAC component 24.

It will therefore be appreciated that the present embodiments place atleast one communication module receptacles 14 in the HVAC controlmounting assembly 10 to increase the flexibility in communicationcapabilities of the HVAC control unit 22. It will also be appreciatedthat the communication modules 18, as well as the antennas 16, areplaced in the HVAC control mounting assembly 10, to reduce the overallsize and costs of the HVAC control unit 22.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly certain embodiments have been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionare desired to be protected.

What is claimed is:
 1. An HVAC control mounting assembly comprising: ahousing including at least one communication module receptacle disposedtherein; and a communication module disposed in at least one of the atleast one communication module receptacles.
 2. The HVAC control mountingassembly of claim 1, further comprising an antenna in communication witheach of the at least one communication module receptacles.
 3. The HVACcontrol mounting assembly of claim 2, wherein each antenna is disposedin a location selected from the group consisting of a front side of thehousing, a rear side of the housing, and a cavity formed within thehousing.
 4. The HVAC control mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein thecommunication module is removable from the at least one of the at leastone communication module receptacles.
 5. The HVAC control mountingassembly of claim 1, wherein the housing is configured to engage an HVACcontrol unit.
 6. The HVAC control mounting assembly of claim 5, whereinthe HVAC control unit comprises a thermostat.
 7. The HVAC controlmounting assembly of claim 5, wherein the communication module isconfigured to exchange data with the HVAC control unit.
 8. The HVACcontrol mounting assembly of claim 5, wherein the communication moduleoperates according to the protocols selected from the group consistingof Z-WAVE® radio, ZIGBEE® radio, Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH®, and radio frequency(RF) radio.
 9. The HVAC control mounting assembly of claim 5, furthercomprising a remote device operable to wirelessly exchange data with thecommunication module.
 10. An HVAC controller assembly comprising: anHVAC control unit; and a mounting assembly operably coupled to the HVACcontrol unit, the mounting assembly comprising: a housing including atleast one communication module receptacle disposed therein; and acommunication module disposed in at least one of the at least onecommunication module receptacles.
 11. The HVAC controller assembly ofclaim 10, wherein the mounting assembly further comprises an antenna incommunication with each of the at least one communication modulereceptacles.
 12. The HVAC controller assembly of claim 11, wherein eachantenna is disposed in a location selected from the group consisting ofa front side of the housing, a rear side of the housing, and a cavityformed within the housing.
 13. The HVAC controller assembly of claim 10,wherein the communication module is removable from the at least one ofthe at least one communication module receptacles.
 14. The HVACcontroller assembly of claim 10, wherein the HVAC control unit isdetachable from the mounting assembly.
 15. The HVAC controller assemblyof claim 10, wherein the HVAC control unit comprises a thermostat. 16.The HVAC controller assembly of claim 10, wherein the communicationmodule is configured to exchange data with the HVAC control unit. 17.The HVAC controller assembly of claim 10, wherein the communicationmodule operates according to the protocols selected from the groupconsisting of Z-WAVE® radio, ZIGBEE® radio, Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH®, and radiofrequency (RF) radio.
 18. The HVAC controller assembly of claim 8,further comprising a remote device operable to wirelessly exchange datawith the communication module.